Candidates have limited control in an interview. They cannot control the questions they will be asked nor can they control the manner by which employers will rank and weigh their responses. They cannot control interviewer bias.

Despite such noble intentions, candidates are frequently rejected or hired for other criteria. Over the past several months, we have had candidates eliminated by clients not for failing to check off the exhaustive list of requisite experience, skills or competencies but rather...

Many hiring managers read resumes in a cursory manner. They review the companies and roles that candidates have filled over their careers while making note of education levels, stability, the quality/consistency of overall career trajectory, and purported skills, knowledge and competencies.

Executive search processes and their outcomes fascinate me to no end. I enjoy trying to figure out how organizations determine their requirements and how well the outcomes line up to them. The recent decision to hire Ron Tavener as OPP Commissioner is a case in point.

In our last post we discussed the temptations facing unemployed executives to move with extreme haste in finding a new role. Conceptualizing job loss as akin to falling off a horse they associate ‘down time' with unproductive, time-consuming activity.

Every week, without exception, we meet executives who have jumped back on their horses in this very manner and embraced a ‘spray and pray' job search strategy. For some it may work like a charm but for the majority, dare I say the vast majority, it is the wrong approach.

The message for companies is pay attention, respect personal dignity, gives candidates a voice and some control over the process, and treat them as partners in an important relationship. Not only will companies have a higher chance of hiring them, on terms possibly more favorable, but as it turns out, keeping them.

The Relationship Between Motivation and Success

August 22, 2018

Implicitly or explicitly, the motivation level of candidates is usually a consideration in hiring decisions. How motivated or driven is a candidate to do the job in question? Is there an unmet need driving the person or is money, power, recognition, excellence, knowledge, more important variables? What does a given individual’s motivation drive them to do, and what price are they prepared to pay to succeed? And does success douse or fuel the flames of motivation, if it affects it at all?

I recently re-read two books that touch on the complex issue of motivation from different perspectives. The first, titled Talent is Overrated, makes the case that high performance is much more than a genetic lottery in which intellect or innate ability are the grand prizes. Instead, high performance is the sum of purposeful and deliberate practice, constant feedback, a teacher, and the personal belief that one’s destiny is self-controlled. Equally important however, those who achieve excellence tend to share a burning motivation and drive to excel coupled with the willingness to focus, concentrate and persevere to achieve their goals. It is this willingness to pay the price of excellence, to expend the effort, endure and overcome whatever gets in the way, that separates the few from the many.

The second book, titled The Trophy Kids Grow Up, discusses motivation from the perspective of young adults entering the work force in the past 5-10 years. This is a generation that questions what remains of the traditional notions of careers and success that drove their parents’ careers. Simply stated, they don’t buy it. If disruption is the norm, let’s flip Maslow’s law on its head, and go for self-actualization now rather than later. They covet variety, engagement, feedback and steady growth. And while motivation and drive remain differentiating personal qualities, they are tempered by changing times and values. Unlike the high performers in the first book, this group may strive for the ‘glory’ but the ‘guts’ will be on terms defined by them.

Drive, passion, grit, perseverance, resilience and related qualities remain among the attributes being sought by organizations. However, the days when organization could demand those same qualities as a condition for employment success are likely over. In the gig economy the gig’s up.

About the Author

Robert Hebert is the founder and Managing Partner of StoneWood Group Inc., a leading executive search firm in Canada. Since 1981, he has helped firms across a wide range of sectors address their senior recruiting, assessment and leadership development requirements.

Contact Robert by email at rhebert@stonewoodgroup.com or call (1) 416-365-9494 Ext. 777